Work-positioning apparatus



April 29 1924. 1,492,126

M. E. FERNALD WORK POSITIONING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 22 1918 i lwgqf q g l seemed Apr. 29, 1924.

MARK n. FERNALD, or sauces, assaon'usnrrs, Assreivoaro c; cQBLAKE; IN-

GORPORATED, or eosron, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION or NEW YORK.

WORK- POSITIONING APPARATUS.

Application filed November 22, 1918. Serial No. 263,740.

To all whom z'tmay concern:

Be it known'that- 1, MARK E. FERNALD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Saugus, in thecounty of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in a Work-Positioning Appara tus, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to apparatus for positioning work with reference to the tool or tools of a machine that isto operate onit and is particularly concerned with the positioning of a last, shoe,or part thereof, with reference to such a machine. 7

As stated in my Patent No. 1,328,144, grantedJune 13, 1920, one type of automatic shoe machine requiresthe use of a leader or pattern plate to control the relative movements of the work and the tool or tools that operate on the work. This pattern plate or leader usually has a contour or outline like the outline of a shoe sole and the usual arrangement is to mount the work on a jack to which the leader is secured. The work is superposed with reference to the leader and obviously it is necessary to have the work.

positioned very accurately so that its soleshaped contour or outline,-ifprojected'on the plate of the leader, willcoincide with the outline orcontour of the leader, or the parts of this contour or outline will be concentric with the corresponding parts of the contour or outline of the leader. The peculiar contours of these parts and the fact that the work is curved longitudinally as well as laterally, make the problem of correctly positioning the work with reference to the leader a particularly diflicult one. In fact, this difficulty has proved a serious handicap to the introduction of automatic machines of this type. The present invention provides both a novel method and a novel apparatus for solving these difficulties.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following description 'tion, showing the devices when read in connection with the accompanying drawings in which- Figures 1 and 2 are side and bottom views, respectively, of a last;

Fig. 3 is a plan View of an apparatus emsitionof the leader.

In the apparatus shown the work, in this instance a last 2, is mounted on a jack3 which preferably is of the construction disthat gage the po' closed in Patent No.-1,314,385 granted August 26, 1919. This jack has a heel pin to enter the socket of the last, an adjustable saddle 4 to support the toe portion of the last, and a locking device 5 arranged to act through the adjustable support for the sad dle to lock the last on the jack. The base of the jack is provided with two shoes or runners, best shown at 6 in Fig. 3, which are spaced apart far enough to receive a leader between them. The lower faces of these runners lie in the same plane so that they are adapted to rest on the surface of "a table 8 with which the apparatus is provided. The leader also rests on this table and a mecha nism arranged to be operated by the handle 9is provided to securely lock the jack and leader together when they have been brought into the desired relationship.

The leader is shown at 10 and preferably is made by the method disclosed in my Patent No. 1,266,113 granted May 14, 1918. This leader is provided with a peripheral flange that is toothed on its outer face to engage and be driven by a toothed pinion with which the automatic machines that are to operate on the last, sole, shoe, or other article of work, are provided, and the inner face of this flange forms its guiding surface. The automatic machines in which the leader and jack are used are designed to move the jack pastthe tool in such 'a path that the tools will operate along a path on the work agreeing exactly in contour with the inner face of the flange of the leader 10. The problem,

therefore, in positioning the work relatively to the leaderin those cases in which the Work already has acontour agreeingWith the contour of the leader to superpose the sole-shaped contour of the work upon the corresponding contour of the leader, and then toflock the leader and jack together when the work and leader have been adjustedin the desired relationship to each other.-

To this end theapparatus shown 'c'omprises'positioning' means for the leader consisting of two V-shaped gaging members, best shown in Fig. 5, and indicated at 11 and 12, respectively. I These two members are shaped to embrace the toe andheel portions,

, respectively, of; a leader, such as that indicated at 10, and they operatethrough engagement with points on theperiphery of the leader at the opposite sidesof its median line to bring the leader into a definite relationship to the members 11 and 12- In other 7 --,words,.these members move the leader into being mounted to slide back and forth in a.

straight line. -toward and from its con1- panion member 11, in order to enable these members to clamp or release a leader and also to enable them to accommodate leaders of dilferentshap'es and sizes. The movement of the member 12 may be produced in any convenient manner as, for instance, by hand or by foot treadle connections: In the arrangement shown this member is secured to a dove-tailpiece that slides in a dove-tail .groove 13 formed partly inthe table 8 and partly in a bracket 14 secured to onerend of ward as desired.

' that just described.

the table; In clampingor releasing the leader, therefore, the workman simply grasps the member 12 and slides it backward or for- Th s arrangement, how:

ever, prevents anyrela'tivei movement of the members 11 and 12 in directionsother than The work positioning apparatus comprises a pair-of members similar to the members. that gage the positionof the leader. One of these members '15 which gages the position ofthe heel endof the work is mounted immediately over the member 11 and has fixed thereto a dove-tail shank piece 16 sliding in a vertical dove-tail groove formed'in the member 17 thatis secured fastto the upper end of a bracket 18 which'is bolted to thetable 8.

. The member-15, therefore, can be moved up anddown relatively to the leader gaging member ll butv is held against any other movement relatively. to the member 11. In

order to facilitate the operation 0f properly adjusting the work in the gage member 15 a small bracket 19 .is secured to the part 15, and astem 20 having a small foot 21 at its lower end is threaded through the bracket 19 so that the foot may be adjusted'vertically with reference to member 15.

The toe gaging member for the work is I mountedin the upper end .of an, arm 22 which is pivoted at 23 on'the lowertoe gagingmember 12 forthe leader. jThis' upper,

member thus can partake of the sliding movement which the lower member 12 has,

.asabove described, and it can also swing toward and from themember 15 in the vertical the gaging edges .of the plane extendinglongitudinallyof the work Q and leader when these two members are in their gaged-positio'ns in "which plane said movement of the part 12 takes place. This toe gaging member)preferablyjismade in twopieces,indicatedin'Fig; 3 at 24 and 25,- respectively, these two partsbeingmounted side by side and secured to shank pieces 26 and 27, respectivelyflvhich also are mounted side by side forvertical adjustment in a vertical guideway formed for-them in the up-.

per part of the arm 22. Each of: the parts 24 and 25 carries a face member, or work engaging 'part, indicated, respectively, at 28,

and 29,-these-membersbeing ang'ularly ad justable. with reference to the respective parts 24: and 25 onwhich they are mounted. For this purpose eachdof the facepieces 28 and 29 has a ,rod 30 fixed thereto and each rod is encircled by a spring 31whic'h acts on a head or collar carried by the outer end of the rodto force the respective face pieces 28' and 30 against the inner faces of the mem bers 24; and 25, respectively, and thus fric-.-

tionally hold them in any. angular position 1 into which they may be adjusted about the axes of their respective rods.

It will nowbe understood that in using the apparatus the workman first secures. a last,

or other article of work mounted thereon, in

the jack 3., He then places the leaderifo'rthis particularsizejand' style'of last-on the tableS and locates the jack on this table with 7 The heel end of the leader is pushed into the the leader between the runners 6 of the jack.

Veshaped opening in the heel gaging memf I ber'l'l and the toe gaging member. 12 isthen moved toward the member ll' until it clamps;

the-leader firmly against the latter member;

The'leader is now clamped in a definite position with reference tofthe other parts of theapparatus. The workman next. proceeds to pos'itionthe work, which he does by moving 'the'jack and the work clamped thereon to bring the heel end of the work 'into en.

gagement with the edges of the /-shaped member 15 substantially as shown in Figs. 3

and 1. In performing this operation it may be necessary to raise or lower the gage 15 by:

sliding the shank 16 up or down in the guideway 17, the friction between these parts being suflicient to hold the member in any position into which it is adjusted. The engagement of the heel end of the work with the gage 15 is facilitated by the'foot '21 which is adjusted to bear against the tread face of the heel part of the work when the lateral edges of the heel end of the work he in the plane of the lower edges of the V- shaped faces of the gaging member 15.

When the steps so far described have been completed it is obvious that the only remaining positioning step necessary is to swing the work to bring it into alinement with the leader. That is, the heel end of the work has already been*positioned,and the only movement that the work can have and still retain the edges of the heel in engagement with the gaging faces of the member'15 is a swinging movement about a point near the heel end of the work as a center; This last positioning step is effected by swinging the toe gaging member into contact with the work and positioning the work substantially as shown in Figs. 3 and 4:, where the lateral. faces of the toe portion of the work are engaged by the edges of the \l-shaped toe gagin member.

lDifFerent styles of lasts vary substantially in the longitudinal and lateral curvatures of the bottom face of the forepart. In some instances this curvature is such that the point of engagement of the gage with one side of the last is slightly higher than the corresponding point on the other side; and in other cases, particularly those instances in which there is considerable longitudinal curvature in the forepart of the last, the lines tangent to the contacting points at opposite edges of the median line of the toe will be inclined substantially with reference to the horizontal plane. It is obvious that the first of these conditions can readily be accommodated by movingone ofth'e meinhers 24c or 25 up or down with reference to the other member. while the second condition can be met by tipping one or both of the face pieces 28 and 29 angularly with refer ence to the members 24 and 25, respectively. There is sutlicient friction to the movement of these parts to retain them in their ad justed positions. This peculiar construction of the toe gage thus enables a workman to adjust this gage to suit any style of last or other article of work that he is required to handle.

When the work has been adjusted into the position in which it is shown in Figs. 3 and 4 with the edges of the sole shaped outline of the work engaging the V-shaped gaging devices, as shown in said figures, this outline or contour then will be in a superposed re lationship to the leader and a projection of the outline ofthe work upon the plane of the leader will coincide with, or be concentric with, the corresponding outline of the leader depending, of course, upon the manner in which the leader'has been constructed. In the specific arrangement shown, the inner face of the flange of the leader constitutes its guiding face, as above described, and coin sequently when the, work and leader have been positioned in the manner described, the projection of the sole-shaped outline of the bottom face of the last will exactly coincide. with the inner face of the peripheral flange of the leader. At the same time this projection will'be concentric with the outer face of the flange of the leader, which faceris utilized in performing the positioning opera tion above described. 7

After the work and leader have been posi- I tioned in the manner just described the handle 9 is moved to lock the jack and the leader securely together. If desired clamps, indicated respectively at 32 and 33 and arranged to be operated by a foot treadle, as completely disclosed in my application, Serial. No. 263,7 39, filed of even date herewith,'may be employed to clamp the jack against the upper face of the table 8 after the work positioning operation has been completed in order to secure the jack against movement while it is being clamped to the leader. After the jack and leader have been clamped together they may then be removed from the positioning apparatus andtaken to one or more of the various automatic machines that are to operate on the work with assurance that the proper relative movements of the work and the tool or tools of these machines will be produced because the work has been accurately located with reference to the leader.

lt'will now be understood that the invention provides a .very convenient method and. apparatus for positioning the work with reference to the leader. in which great accuracy is assured and, which requires only ordinary care on the part of the workman. Furthermore this positioning operation can be performed very quickly with the aid of the apparatus disclosed. While a convenient form of apparatus has been herein described for carrying out the method of this invention, it is obvious that this method can be'prae tised by a great variety of forms of appa: i'atus differing in arrangement and details of construction from the specific form shown. It will also be seen that the apparatus could be modified in many particulars within the skill of the mechanic while still retaining the essential features and characteristics of the invention.

What is claimed as new, is:

'1. An apparatus for positioning a last, shoe, or other article of work, having a portion presenting a sole shaped contour, with reference to a leader having a similar contour to bring said contours into superposed relationship to each other, said apparatus having, in combination, position gaging 'means forthe leader, and similar position gaging means for the work, one of said means being mounted vin substantial superposed relationship to the other.

2. An apparatus for positioning a last, shoe, or other article of work having a portion presenting a sole shaped contour with reference to a leader having a similar contour'to bring said contours into superposed relationship to each other, said apparatus having, in combination, two superposed gag-f 'ing members for positioning like ends of the leader and work, respectively, constructed to perform their gaging functions insubstantially the same manner, and additional means to gage the positions of the opposite endsof-said leader and work. v

'3. An apparatus for positioninga last, shoe, or other article ofwo'rk having a pertionpresenting sole shaped contour with referencetoa leader having a similar contour tobring said contours into superposed relationship to each other, said apparatus having,-in combination, two superposed gaging members :for positioning like ends of the named gaging members.

, LAn apparatus for positioning 7 a last, shoe,-or other, article of work having a -p0r-.

, tionipresenting a'soleshaped contour with reference to a leader having a similar coir.

tour to'bring said contours into superposed relationship to each other, said apparatus hav1ng,jin combination, two superposed V- shaped gaging members for positioning like ends-of the leaderand work,'respectively, ina, like ,manner and additional means for gaging the positions :of the opposite ends of the'leader and work.

An apparatus for positioning a last, shoe, or other article of workhaving a sole shaped contour with reference to a leader having a similar contour to bring said contours into superposed relationship to each other,'said apparatushaving', in combination, two superposed gaging members op-' erative to position the heel ends of the leader and work, respectively, and toe gaging dei work. i

vices for the work and leader, respectively, mountedin superposed relationship, the toe .gage for the work being adjustable in di rection and extent to accommodate different lateral and longitudinal curvatures of the 6 An apparatus for positioningja last,

shoe, orot her article of wort havinga sole work.

messes shaped contour with reference to a leader having a similar contour to bring said contours into superposed relat onshipto eachother, said apparatus having, incombination, a pair of opposed centering gages for positioning a leader, said gagesbeing rela tively movable toward and from each other to accommodate leadersof'various lengths,

a similar pairof centering gagesipositioned above the leader gages and operative to gage the position of the work, said pairsof gages being relatively adjustable in a vertical plane extendinglongitudinally ofthe work andleader when thelatter'parts areiin their 'gaged positions but being fixed against relative movement in other directions;

7; An apparatus for positioning; .a;-la'st,

shoe, or-.-other article ofwork having a sole;

shaped contour with reference to a leader having a similar contourto bring said contours into superposed relationship to each other, said apparatus having,,in COIIlbiHiL- work and leader, respectively-, mounted for relative adjustment vertically but fixed against relative movement 'in other direce tions, a pair of V-shaped toe gages for the work and leader, respectively, movable toward and from their cooperating heel gages and relatively movable vertically butfixed against relative movement in other direc tions. I r

8, An. apparatus for fixing the'position of a last,v shoe, or other article of work having a sole shapedoutline, comprising, ar-toe en-' gaging member having parts provided with work engaging faces lying atan angle to t tioii, superposed V-shap'ed heel gages for the- 7 each other and arranged to engagecthe toe j portion of the work at points on opposite sides. of its median line, means supporting said parts for angular adjustment in planes extending substantially normal to the plane of the tread face of the work to facilitate the adjustment of said parts into positions substantially tangent to their points OIECODF tact with the sole shaped outline of the work, and additional means'for engaging'a part of the work behind thetoeto cooperate 1 i with saidmember in determining the posi- 'tion of the work.

9. An' apparatus forgaging the position of a last, shoe, or similar article of work having a sole shaped contour, comprising a gage having a V-shaped notch therein, a device carried by said gage for engaging the face of piece of work POSl'DlOIlGd'lIl said gage, and means supporting said device in a position overlying said V-shaped notch and enabling saiddevice to be adjusted to ward and from the face of said piece of 10. An apparatus for positioning a last,

shoe, or other article of work having a sole shaped contour with reference to a leader having a similancontour' to} bring said con- 1,492,128 tours into superposed relationship to each the V-shaped'notch in said work gaging other, said apparatus having, in oon1binamember and positioned for engagement with tion, two superposed V -shaped gaging Inemthe face of the Work. 10 V bers for positioning like ends of the leader In testimony whereof I have signed my 5 and Work, respectively, additional means for name to this speoifioation.

gaging the positions of the opposite ends of the leader and work, and a device overlying MARKE. FERNALD, 

